Bahrain closes Saudi tycoon prince’s TV channel

SHAFAQNA –Bahrain on Monday announced the closure of new pan-Arab news channel Alarab owned by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal just nine days after its launch.“It has been decided to halt the activities of Alarab, the channel not having received the necessary permits,” a statement from the Bahrain Information Affairs Authority said.Launched on February 1 in a blaze of publicity, the channel was on the air for only a few hours before programming was interrupted “for technical and administrative reasons”.